University of Kwazulu-Natal

Disappearing Government Data Data Guide Disappearing Data All

Bonisiwe Shabane
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disappearing government data data guide disappearing data all

This guide has been created in response to recent and ongoing removal of federal datasets, websites, and other digital resources. It is a work in progress and will be updated as new archives and repositories are surfaced. Many of the resources linked here have been identified by the Data Rescue Project and LibGuides from other colleges and universities. If you need assistance using any of the resources linked here, or these resources don't meet your needs, please reach out to your Research & Instruction Librarian. Recent executive orders and federal agency actions have raised questions about the future of publicly available government data, what can and can’t be published, and how the future of government-funded research will play out. So far, this has impacted some federal health data, USDA climate change information, Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) libraries, and more.

The University of Nebraska - Lincoln Libraries are a Congressionally designated depository for U.S. Government documents. Public access to Government documents is guaranteed by public law (Title 44 U.S.C.). 302 Love Library South University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE 68588-4100 Michael Straatmann Associate Director Collection Management According to a New York Times analysis published on February 2, 2025, "more than 8,000 web pages across more than a dozen U.S.

government websites have been taken down ... as federal agencies rush to heed President Trump’s orders targeting diversity initiatives and 'gender ideology'.” This Guide has resources for both government information seekers and rescuers, centered around disappearing U.S. Government data. There are more sites to be found, but this list will provide a starting point for anyone interested in the process of how our profession (and others) are responding to the current data crisis... Beginning in January 2025, many federal datasets, websites, and other previously accessible resources, across agencies, are being taken offline to comply with executive orders.

In some cases, press releases or data documentation have been removed; in others, entire datasets have been taken down. Evidence is growing that even datasets that remain accessible on an agency’s website may have scrubbed, corrupted, or otherwise altered information. Learn more about missing, altered or restored federal data: New York Times (02/11/25): Judge Orders C.D.C. to Temporarily Restore Deleted HHS, CDC & FDA Web Pages. The temporary restraining order was granted in response to a lawsuit filed against the federal government by Doctors for America (DFA), a progressive advocacy group representing physicians, and the nonprofit Public Citizen, a consumer...

Previously restored pages include the Atlas Tool, used by policymakers to track rates of infectious diseases such as HIV and STIs; pages that explained the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, which monitors adolescent health;... Silencing Science Tracker: joint initiative of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, tracking government attempts to restrict or prohibit scientific research since the November 2016 election Please recommend resources to be added to this guide by emailing libref@eckerd.edu. Thank you to our colleagues from the Oberlin Group of Liberal Arts College Libraries group for their thoughtful collaboration on this guide. After January 20, 2025, federal data, webpages, and other previously accessible sources of government information normally available to researchers and the public began to disappear in order to comply with executive orders. This is an evolving situation.

To learn more about missing or altered federal data: The Journalists Resource is an overview of the current situation from the Shorenstein Center at the Kennedy School. Starting on January 20, 2025, many federal websites and datasets have been taken offline to comply with various executive orders. Most notably, information and data from the CDC, EPA, and NIH have disappeared. Much of the targeted data is related to health disparities based on race, gender, and sexuality, factors often considered in health research. Federal data on education that touches on disparities in outcomes among different groups is also at risk.

Some data that remain accessible online may have been scrubbed, corrupted, or otherwise altered. This guide is designed to help the MHC community: 1) understand the current data landscape; 2) locate US federal government data that may have been removed; 3) gain awareness about data advocacy and rescue... This section provides strategies for retrieving missing or altered federal data and for locating archived versions of government websites. Begin by searching data.gov to confirm whether the data is truly unavailable. It's possible that the dataset has been relocated. 2.

Use the Internet Archive Wayback Machine: Since a flurry of executive orders were issued in early 2025, thousands of datasets and webpages have been removed from federal government websites. The removals have focused on content relating to both topics that have been the subject of executive orders (e.g. gender, structural inequality, climate science, and public health) and content on other topics that uses vocabulary common to research on the topics targeted by the orders. This guide provides a workflow for researchers needing access to data that has been removed. Most US federal government datasets are still available on data.gov, if you have not heard specific reports that a dataset has been removed or moved, begin searching by name or topic on data.gov.

If the data is not indexed on Data.gov and you know which government agency produced the information, check their website directly. The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine indexes many (but not all) .gov webpages. It works best if you have the exact url for the old page - you may be able to find this from cached google search results, citations, etc.

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This Guide Has Been Created In Response To Recent And

This guide has been created in response to recent and ongoing removal of federal datasets, websites, and other digital resources. It is a work in progress and will be updated as new archives and repositories are surfaced. Many of the resources linked here have been identified by the Data Rescue Project and LibGuides from other colleges and universities. If you need assistance using any of the reso...

The University Of Nebraska - Lincoln Libraries Are A Congressionally

The University of Nebraska - Lincoln Libraries are a Congressionally designated depository for U.S. Government documents. Public access to Government documents is guaranteed by public law (Title 44 U.S.C.). 302 Love Library South University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE 68588-4100 Michael Straatmann Associate Director Collection Management According to a New York Times analysis published on Febr...

Government Websites Have Been Taken Down ... As Federal Agencies

government websites have been taken down ... as federal agencies rush to heed President Trump’s orders targeting diversity initiatives and 'gender ideology'.” This Guide has resources for both government information seekers and rescuers, centered around disappearing U.S. Government data. There are more sites to be found, but this list will provide a starting point for anyone interested in the proc...

In Some Cases, Press Releases Or Data Documentation Have Been

In some cases, press releases or data documentation have been removed; in others, entire datasets have been taken down. Evidence is growing that even datasets that remain accessible on an agency’s website may have scrubbed, corrupted, or otherwise altered information. Learn more about missing, altered or restored federal data: New York Times (02/11/25): Judge Orders C.D.C. to Temporarily Restore D...

Previously Restored Pages Include The Atlas Tool, Used By Policymakers

Previously restored pages include the Atlas Tool, used by policymakers to track rates of infectious diseases such as HIV and STIs; pages that explained the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, which monitors adolescent health;... Silencing Science Tracker: joint initiative of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, tracking government attempts to res...